Christian County had published a county history in 1841 by Perin and again another by Charles Meachem in 1930. Both of these histories had a limited biography section in them. Under the leadership of president Lon Bostick, the Genealogical Society of Christian County and the many devoted people of the county at large, gave untiringly of their time and knowledge to compile and have published a third history of Christian County in 1986 which is primarily a family history with much social history. The people responded well with material and the book was getting so large that we had to stop receiving family histories. This left many without the opportunity to get their families recorded. Late in 1990, Lon had a job started and was not complete therefore the Odd Fellows of Green River Lodge #54 of Hopkinsville and Jewel Rebekah Lodge #14 (the auxiliary of the Odd Fellows) met and voted to compile and have published a continuation of Volume I of the Family Histories to be titled Edition I of Family Histories of Christian County.

Many books have been written about Appalachia, but few have voiced its concerns with the warmth and directness of this one. From hundreds of interviews gathered by the Appalachian Oral History Project, editors Laurel Shackelford and Bill Weinberg have woven a rich verbal tapestry that portrays the people and the region in all their variety. The words on the page have the ring of truth, for these are the people of Appalachia speaking for themselves. Here they recollect an earlier time of isolation but of independence and neighborliness. For a nearer time they tell of the great changes that took place in Appalachia with the growth of coal mining and railroads and the disruption of old ways. Persisting through the years and sounding clearly in the interviews are the dignity of the Appalachian people and their close ties with the land, despite the exploitation and change they have endured. When first published, Our Appalachia was widely praised. This new edition again makes available an authentic source of social history for all those with an interest in the region.

This eleventh edition was developed during the encyclopaedia's transition from a British to an American publication. Some of its articles were written by the best-known scholars of the time and it is considered to be a landmark encyclopaedia for scholarship and literary style.